And every stand had four bronze wheels, and axles of bronze: and the four corners thereof had supports: under the laver were molten supports, at the side of every wreath.
Read Chapter 7
Bede
AD 735
The four wheels are the four books of the Gospels, which are very aptly compared with wheels because, just as the wheel’s whirling motion can travel with the greatest rapidity wherever it is steered, so with the Lord’s help through the instrumentality of the apostles the word of the gospel filled all the regions of the world in a short space; as the wheel raises from the earth the chariot laid on it, and when raised carries it where the driver steers it, so the preaching of the gospel lifts up the minds of the elect from earthly cravings to heavenly desires and, having lifted them up, guides them to progress in good works or to the ministry of preaching, in whichever direction the helping grace of the Spirit wills. For since, in the text that follows, it says that “they were the kind of wheels usually designed for a chariot,” and moreover, we read of the saints, “The chariot of God is attended by ten thousands; thousands of them that rejoice,” why, then, is it that the wheels of the bases are compared with the wheels of chariots, unless it is that one and the same word of the gospel makes some of those whom it teaches chariots of God and others pillars of God’s temple? - "On the Temple 2.20.7"
